Axpona 2023


 

Axpona Show Recap Sunday April 16th 2023- O'Hare Airport



 

Clarisys Audio-Why these difficult names??

$35k. Easy on the ears at higher volumes.

"Apogee" is what they look like only prettier.

 

The new T+A $50k speaker model was also excellent. They make smaller models

I plan to look into.

 

The $43k Joseph Audio is a perennial winner.

 

The $200k+ Borresen Speakers may still be my all time favorite. Lars was there

but Michael B. was burned out from an Asian tour.

 

The Vimberg stand mount Speaker they demo'd is a magical speaker. 

Last year they showed Lime Green speaker and sold it at the show.

Makers please note. Focal failed to bring even one "Hot" colored speaker.

And they must have had 25 speakers there. Poor merchandising. 

 

Did anyone else partake in one of Wendel's 1/2 hour new subwoofer sessions? (Magnepan)

Wendel's contention is that 12  6.25" drivers mounted in a dipole configuration

beats anyone's subwoofer. Not sure about his science on that but he puts on an

impressive demo! 

 

I am still waiting delivery of my LRS+ speakers ordered Dec 4th. 

I did get to listen to the new LRS+ speakers finally. Interesting back story about

something Sandy Gross had to say in the Bacche room. He thinks the LRS+ are "special".

 

Mike Fremer debuted his new LP. I won't try to review it but will advise against over paying

for an early copy.

 

Met some fun people at Cambridge Audio Saturday night!  Their business is good.

 

Dined with the Black Ice people at the Weber Grill.  Jared has a very

interesting past if you ever meet him. They sold 40 units of one headphone amp

on Friday at the show!

 

I finally met Fredrik Lejonklou from Sweden. He does things in an all out assault mode.

Also has the best laid out website I've seen. Product history info is wonderful. Other makers note.

 

I spoke with the Chris Brunhaver, PS Audio Speaker designer, (son of one of the speakerlab founders)

and heard his mid sized $20k speakers. I like the look and the sound is pretty good

for a first effort. I decided against asking him if he missed Darren Meyers the PS audio designer

who was recently hired away by the new Parasound owner. Darren is a very talented guy who will 

benefit greatly from his new association with John Curl. I have to think Parasound will be announcing 

a new Class D amp soon enough.

 

Rumor has it that PS Audio is shopping for a new software man to fix some long standing glitches. 

When the mute button turns on the TV it is time for a fix.

 

Andrew Jones was demoing his new Point 8 speaker. $3k. the Point 10 is $4k. 

He had some great demo music I will be including in my next Track du Jour email.

The 8's sounded as good or better than the 10's in that setup.

 

A fun show overall!!

 

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Showing 4 responses by mikempls

I totally agree with Benzman — the Borresen X3 speakers at $11,000 are one of the best values I’ve ever seen. To my ear, they sounded as good as the $22k Von Schweikerts. 
 

Another value play — the Scansonic MB 6B (by Raidho) for $15k. Their answer to Børresen’s new X3 — both high quality, exceptional value buys. 
 

Did anyone check out the Canton room by Bluebird? I was really looking forward to listening to the Reference 3 K floorstanders but was sadly disappointed. Same for the Audio Monitor Platinum 200 3G speakers. Both of those are good brands and I’ve read great reviews. Perhaps they were just victims of the “Hotel Room Curse!”

Though that sure didn’t seem to hurt the Børresen X3s — phenomenal. And Frits (Børresen’s guy) was icing in the cake. Hoping to pull the trigger on those bad boys this fall! 
 

All in all, a great show. 

I totally agree with Benzman — the Borresen X3 speakers at $11,000 are one of the best values I’ve ever seen. To my ear, they sounded as good as the $22k Von Schweikerts. 
 

Another value play — the Scansonic MB 6B (by Raidho) for $15k. Their answer to Børresen’s new X3 — both high quality, exceptional value buys. 
 

Did anyone check out the Canton room by Bluebird? I was really looking forward to listening to the Reference 3 K floorstanders but was sadly disappointed. Same for the Audio Monitor Platinum 200 3G speakers. Both of those are good brands and I’ve read great reviews. Perhaps they were just victims of the “Hotel Room Curse!”

Though that sure didn’t seem to hurt the Børresen X3s — phenomenal. And Frits (Børresen’s guy) was icing in the cake. Hoping to pull the trigger on those bad boys this fall! 
 

All in all, a great show. 

Thanks, Dayglow — your comments were some of the most helpful I’ve received. I thought you were spot on with comments about the Canton and MA speakers. Good perspectives on the X3 — I was a bit nervous about the “fake” sound myself.

Did you listen to the Scansonics (Raidho’s entry line) by chance? I heard those before the X3s and thought they sounded good also.

I totally agree with Curiousjim — dayglow’s reviews are better than anything I can find in the magazines!

I was listening to the Scansonic MB 6B — at $15k I thought it was unbeatable. That was until I listened to the Børresen X3 — it sure sounded good to me although I appreciate your observations. I’d definitely need to listen to those with my own music selections.

THEN I heard the YG Talus and found them to be splendid. 

So now I’m down to three candidates for consideration. All in my price range - $15k - and all with apparently fantastic sound.

The kicker is that the speaker that I really wanted to hear was the Audiovector — and somehow it slipped by me. Now I’ve got to find a dealer. I’ve read good things about the QR7 but truth be told, the R3 Arrete has really caught my attention despite its higher price.

The question I need to answer for myself now is how will any/all of these speakers sound with my Parasound JC1 amps and JC2 BP preamp. That’s my big question now.

The search continues……….   Thanks all!